On 6 February 1933, Taoiseach Eamon de Valera officially opened the new high-powered RTÉ radio station located at Athlone in the centre of the country.
Speaking in Irish, the Taoiseach described the installation in symbolic terms, "Droichead nua Átha Luain is ea é, droichead idir na Gaeil in Éirinn agus Gaeil in imirce" "It is the new bridge of Athlone, a bridge between the Irish in Ireland and the emigrant Irish."
